For years I’ve been saying Jamie Maclaren is our best bet for the 2018 World Cup and will turn into a quality forward. Injuries haven’t been kind to his development but I still think he is most likely our best ‘striker’ at the moment. Adam Taggart was looking on track too until off-field incidents at Fulham. However, he’s still young and can grow into a prolific goal scorer.

Can only see it coming as a live show to be honest. However I am sick of the match-based PPV (TLC, Hell in a Cell) it’s made them feel like just another match

You’re very optimistic with your thoughts, and I would honestly love to see Global Warning come back to Melbourne, but I can’t see it happening.

1. The MCG would not sell out as quick as you think, it at all. WWE is obviously fairly popular around Australia, but it’s not that popular.

2. The time difference for the USA viewers (who are the most important ones) would be too great for a live PPV and following shows meaning the best we’ll ever get is a dual-brand live show potentially, but not a PPV.

3. If they’re going to have a PPV overseas anywhere it’s gunna be London, they always come out in droves and are in fact some of the loudest fans on the planet (no idea where you got the idea that Aussie fans are?)

All in all, as much as I’d love to see it, it won’t happen, especially not a whole week dedicated to it like it were one of the Big 4 (or 5 if you include MITB)

I think you’ve picked the sides well. And given Penrith’s financial state at the moment, I think they’d love to have a women’s side and jump at the chance to have one. It’d be nice to have a Warriors team, but I don’t think they’re ready just yet as a club. Melbourne is also a definite if it is to combat the AFLW.

I love the concept and the enthusiasm of these ideas. However I think one issue that’s most likely going to be brought up, is the cost issues for these minnow nations.

Much of those games mentioned will struggle to have any sort of broadcasting, and thus will lack any sort of sponsorship and financial backing.

Tours featuring Australia, NZ and England are definitely a good way to promote the game because broadcasters will definitely buy rights to those games and thus sponsors will jump on board as well.

I suggest that to combat that problem and add to your idea, that a Six Nations tournament be held every 4 years between the World Cups. The winner of the Pacifif Cup and European Championships(the year beforehand) would be added which creates further importance to these competitions and will entice broadcasters and sponsors to buy, and people to watch. The two runners up from each comp can then play mid year the next year for the last place.

The year after the Six Nations, World Cup Qualifying can begin as well as more tours for Australia and NZ to nations that have already qualified, such as the UK and Pacific Islands.

The general conception that’s been established from this World Cup, is that we need to see more international footy and more often. There needs to be a consistent 4-year cycle of international footy with competitions in place for every nation.

Cameron Smith poses a great idea that we should probably reduce the NRL season. Even if it were to 23 rounds so that we have a few extra weeks available to create consistent international competitions.

That’s exactly what is wrong with the game and the reasons international rugby league can never grow while State of Origin exists. State of Origin should never have been marketed as the ‘best of the best’ because, essentially, it’s incorrect. It’s marketed as such for the casual fans that watch and thus the money it makes.

In every sport around the world, the best of the best is the international game, Rugby League should be the same. I don’t think getting rid of Origin is the answer, but the NRL needs to establish less focus on Origin and more on international footy if they ever want to grow the game beyond Australia.

I find it very amusing that you’re suggesting a Football-esc ‘Pro/Rel System’ for our Cricket league, however we are still years and years away from it being a reality in our Football League.

The only logical expansion I can see for the future would be to move into NZ and have teams in Auckland & Wellington, potentially even Christchurch. Nationally, Australia loves the BBL and Cricket, moving internationally will be how it will grow and increase the quality. Potentially even a SAF team could join once NZ teams are stable?

As most would, I definitely agree that there needs to be more matches played between the Tier 2 nations. I’d love to see a Pacific Cup played next year between Fiji, PNG, Samoa & Tonga to really jump on the success and interest seen from this WC. You could also have a European Cup played at the same time.

I’d love to see a Six Nations tournament to become a big event played every 4 years in between the WC while having the seperate tours in years between both tournaments.

Love the idea, has a lot of merit to it. Only issue I can see, and others it seems, is how it would work with the salary cap. Also, some good trades throughout the season may be an awesome way to create a bit of buzz and interest during the comp, but I’d hope it wouldn’t turn into the NBA were we just see trades constantly and loyalty goes out the window.

I think something the NRL could look to implement is changing the scheduling for them. It’s something the NBA does well in regards to games on the road. I’d suggest potentially even scheduling the Warriors having 2 home games back-to-back and 2 away games back-to-back. It means travel is a little less as they’re not going back and forth as often. It may not work, but it may be worth a try.

Definitely agree with most written in this article. The NRL has a common theme throughout most it’s CEOs and senior officials, and that is, they fail to make tough/big decisions and risks to branch out the game further, or just strengthen it in general. I’m sick of hearing excuses like ‘the game doesn’t have enough good players for expansion’, or ‘we can’t change the scheduling (or anything for that matter) as it isn’t what the broadcasters want’. It’s time the NRL started making decisions and took risks to grow the game nationally/internationally.

To be honest, I think it needs to be scrapped. If a game can’t be decided over 80 minutes, both teams deserve a point. They’ve got the right idea for finals now with 5 mins of extra time followed by golden point, but I think a draw after 80 is sufficient enough.

Definitely agree about the draw of the FFA Cup. As you’ve written, it is a fantastic idea and works really well! However, I think it’d be better to do just an ‘unedited’ pot selection for the teams as it makes another dose of excitement and the ‘magic of the cup’. Hopefully we see this in the coming years.

Definitely agree. And by alienating supporter bases, were actually hurting the game as a whole, rather than improving it. The new teams coming in need the opportunity to create their own traditions, culture and history, just as the Titans are beginning to do.

So really you’re talking about relocation, not expansion?

The only team I can ever see being relocated is potentially the Tigers if their joint consortium continues to struggle and impact their financial cult standing. Even that is a long shot but.

Perth have constantly said they want their own team, and to be honest they deserve it. Brisbane 2 would be my next choice with Wellington and either Central Queensland or Adelaide coming in the next lot of expansion.

I do agree that the NRL needs to begin expanding though if they wish to truly grow the game nationally. The longer they wait, the more AFL is beginning to dominate and we’re losing juniors to other codes.

Gold article and comparison to other sports. Many other sports besides AFL and Basketball also never bag out the refs. Even on Foxsports, the commentators are quite supportive of the refs, and when a bad or contentious decision is made, they may make a comment, but that’s it. No dwelling on it. Channel Nine is just really really bad commentary and a reason why many are making the switch to FOXTEL.

Your idea is definitely an improvement. However I’m not sure how happy clubs would be in losing home games and revenue. I think a much simpler version is to have Origin coaches announce a squad of 20-22 and have Origin on 3 consecutive Wednesday nights, with the club games still happening on the weekends however each team has a bye or two to limit the amount of games without their stars. This means we get Origin over and done with in 3 weeks, rather than 8, as well as keeping fans and broadcasters happy as they still get their weekend games.

QLD definitely need to start thinking of the future. Lots of positions that’ll need filling soon. Here’s how I think the future team will look in about 3 or so years.

1. Cameron Munster
2. Darius Boyd
3. Greg Inglis
4. Will Chambers
5. Corey Oates
6. Michael Morgan
7. Ben Hunt
8. Matt Scott(c)
9. Jake Friend
10. Josh McGuire
11. Matt Gillett
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Josh Papalli
14. Moses M’bye
15. Dylan Napa
16. Felise Kaufusi
17. Jarred Wallace

Although its been rather successful in breeding new talent, it hasn’t been more so than it was 20 years ago. I would either create an U/20s competition for the NSW and QLD cup sides, or, and this would be preferred, we scrap NSW & QLD Cup and NYC, and we have and every NRL club has a Reserve Grade and U/20s(or 18s) side that also play on the same day before the first grade game. You’ll probably find that you could potentially have a 17th, and 18th team with the amount of quality players there are in NSW & QLD cup at the moment, as well as the exiled players in ESL. But As you stated, it creates a clear cut pathway to first grade, as well as readies them for what the NRL is like.

Have to agree with Grinch – 100% right. Every time a team plays Argentina or Barcelona, they change they’re game plan to try to answer the question ‘how do we stop Messi?’ In most cases they don’t any cant. But any team he plays in centres around him completely. Whether he’s playing in the 9 or on the wing, the whole team plays off him, unlike they do with Ronaldo.

Don’t get me wrong at all, Ronaldo is obviously one of the greatest of all time, but Messi is the best. Just have a look at multiple quotes from past legends such as Lampard, Scholes, Ronaldinho etc. they all say Messi is the best.

Option B would be my choice. That does well to keep the weekly games, but also allows a time for rest, which is similar to how it is in the NFL.

I could be wrong, but I think next year’s World Cup is featuring a game in Fiji, and 3 in PNG.

I’m extremely excited to see these games and the turn-outs they receive.

Go back to the way it used to be with 3 conferences.
Africa Conference – Kings, Lions, Sharks, Bulls, Cheetahs & Stormers.
Australia Conference – Waratahs, Rebels, Force, Brumbies, Reds & Sunwolves
NZ Conference – Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, Blues, Hurricanes & Jaguars.

Play teams in your conference twice, play the rest once. That Gives us 22 rounds. The winner of each conference become the top 3 (order depends on points) and the next 5 remaining spots go to whoever is has the most points regardless of conference. That way makes an organised, simple structure as well as definitely having 1 team from each nation in the finals, and also rewards teams who have performed during the year.

A good centre is able to find themselves in those positions to score as Jennings always does. Who can you say that is miles ahead of him as one of the best centres?